


A Hero's Mask

by Lovethatfandom



Series: KK's Book of One-Shots [5]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6196123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovethatfandom/pseuds/Lovethatfandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite common belief, Barry Allen was actually very good at acting. It takes a lot of skill to make people think that you are a happy-go-lucky optimist that wears his heart on his sleeve. He was, until his mother died. That is when he started acting. Acting like he was fine, keep Iris and Joe from worrying. Even when he really was fine again, he didn’t have the innocent optimism anymore and it was too late to drop the act, Iris would get suspicious and he could never lie to her if she pushed enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hero's Mask

Despite common belief, Barry Allen was actually very good at acting. It takes a lot of skill to make people think that you are a happy-go-lucky optimist that wears his heart on his sleeve. He was, until his mother died. That is when he started acting. Acting like he was fine, keep Iris and Joe from worrying. Even when he really was fine again, he didn’t have the innocent optimism anymore and it was too late to drop the act, Iris would get suspicious and he could never lie to her if she pushed enough.

Everything came to a head the night of the accelerator explosion. Or, more accurately, the day he woke up from his 9 month coma. Now, he had more people to keep from worrying. He now had Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells. Well, he could manage that, the fighting of crime helped a bit to keep him distracted.

Then, Wells betrayed them and Barry had to stay strong for them when all he wanted to do was curl in a ball and not face the outside world. There were slipups in which his mask fell, but those were few and far between though gaining in frequency.

The first time the mask fully fell away was after the singularity and Eddie’s death. The guilt and the pressure built up until he shut down. He pushed everyone away and didn’t bother with hiding it. Eventually he pulled himself together enough to put the mask back on and reassure his friends.

Despite all he does to hide it, there was one person he didn’t have to wear his mask around. No, it wasn’t Oliver, all he knew was Barry’s masked self. The person, surprisingly enough, is Leonard Snart. Yep. Captain Cold is the only one Barry can be himself around. Doesn’t have to be strong, doesn’t have to be unaffected, doesn’t have to be a role model. Cold doesn’t expect him to be any of those things. Hell, he does all he can to show that the speedster isn’t.

To the confusion of the rest of team Flash, Barry seems to be excited to face off against Snart when the calls come in. It’s not that he is happy that Snart is trying to pull another theft, it’s just that when they are fighting, when the banter flows with ease, he feels more like himself than any other time.

The others worry when he goes out there to fight Captain Cold, he seems so different. Especially this current confrontation. Things had been building again and he just needed a good way to vent. What better way than fighting with Cold? So, when Barry went out when the call came in, he was pretty excited. Running to the transport truck that the call came from, he skid to a stop in front of the master thief.

“What are you doing here Snart? I thought you were off gallivanting through time.” He called out snidely.

“ _Chill_ , Scarlet. Just having some fun between my ‘galivants’. I can’t be a good guy all the time.” Cold smirked. Barry held back a chuckle, settling on a upward twitch of the lips before rolling his eyes.

“Well, you _could._ ”

“Yeah, not going to happen.” Barry shrugged. 

“I guessed as much. Shall we get to it?” Barry suggested. Snart smirked.

“Sure thing kid.” He said before raising his cold gun and pulling the trigger. Barry tapped into the speed force and moved out of the way of the blast, laughing as he did so. He could hear his team sounding very confused in his ear so he tuned them out. The Flash and Captain Cold continued their game, trying to catch the other without really trying. As the game went on, Cisco started telling him to get a move on. Annoyed, Barry turned his comm off and turned to face Cold. 

“Ughhhhh I love my friends, but god they can be annoying. Why can they just let me fight you in peace?” He asked. Cold lowered his gun to continue conversing with Barry.

“Well, maybe ‘cause I am not someone that you are supposed to be enjoying talking to and fighting with?” He replied, sitting down on the street next to the truck.

“I guess,” Barry replied, sitting next to him, “But I can’t help it, you’re just so easy to talk to.” He teased. Snart’s lips twitched up in amusement. “But seriously Len, it is nice to talk to someone I don’t have to be strong for.” Len nodded.

“You do know that the cops will be here any moment, right?” Len told Barry. The speedster nodded in confirmation before standing up and offering a hand up to the thief.

“Want to go to a bar or something?” Barry asked. Len shrugged. “I’m going to take that as a yes,” He said before turning his comm back on. The panicked voices of Cisco and Caitlin filled his ears. “Guys, I’m fine. I just turned off my comm ‘cause you were being a bit distracting,” Len rolled his eyes and Barry stuck his tongue out at him, “I think I’m going to head out for the night.” He told his friends.

_“You always do that,”_ Cisco’s voice came through the unit.

“What do you mean?” Barry asked confused.

_“Head out after you face Cold.”_  
Barry tensed slightly. “Nah, it’s just a coincidence. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He called out.

_“Night man.”_ Cisco called, letting it go, before Barry disconnected the comm once again. 

With a nod to Len, Barry flashed off and back in civilian clothes. He picked Len up and sped them to their usual bar. With a true, non-masked smile, Barry leaned over to the thief in front of him and placed a kiss on his lips before leading the smirking man into the bar.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one I just had a passing idea on originally and just started writing it. I actually became quite proud of at least the beginning.
> 
> As always, feel free to leave me suggestions for future fics.


End file.
